wfn.org | [ENS] Robinson begins episcopate with call for inclusion

[jnunley@episcopalchurch.org]

November 12, 2003

Robinson begins episcopate with call for inclusion

By: James Solheim 

[Episcopal News Service] Even as the controversy over the November 2
consecration of V. Gene Robinson as the church's first openly gay man to be
elected to the episcopate continued to simmer among Episcopalians around the
world, he quietly began his ministry with a pledge to take the message of
God's love to "those on the margins."
 
Pointing out that Jesus spent a major part of his ministry with women, tax
collectors and foreigners instead of the wealthy and leaders of the
synagogue, Robinson told the congregation at All Saints Church in
Peterborough a week after his controversial consecration that Jesus "looked
at the religious establishment of his day and realized that they had closed
their eyes to those on the margins. Think of all the kinds of blindness
right outside this door: not seeing people in need or turning the other way
when we do," he said.
 
He also said that the church must speak out on social issues. "How dare we
in this country spend $87 billion on war when 44 million people have no
health insurance?" he asked.
 
Robinson also expressed the hope that those who disagree with his election
and consecration will remain in the Episcopal Church, and not leave. "A
church founded on unhappiness and anger is not going to go very far," he
said. 
 
Issues still simmering
 
The controversy is also simmering in New Hampshire.
 
At Sunday services at Church of the Redeemer in Rochester a group estimated
at 40 people walked out to protest the dismissal of their interim priest by
Bishop Douglas Theuner of New Hampshire. The Rev. Donald Wilson has publicly
opposed the election and consecration of Robinson and told Theuner that he
would never accept the new bishop. The church itself had recently voted  28
to 10 to oppose Robinson.
 
"In view of your letter to me of October 29 in which you stipulate in terms
of your loyalty that you 'have none for V. Gene Robinson' who now shares
ecclesiastical authority with me as Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of New
Hampshire, and given the insubordinate way in which you responded to my
request for a meeting through a phone call by my secretary this afternoon, I
am withdrawing your license to officiate in the Diocese of New Hampshire
herewith."
 
Wilson said that he had made it clear that Robinson had the right of annual
visitation "but suggested pastoral alternatives given the position of the
majority of my parishioners." The Rev. David Anderson, president of the
American Anglican Council (AAC), said that Theuner's actions "represent an
act of war against a small church... To rip from their midst a pastor who
has faithfully served this parish is an unconscionable act." Wilson was
called out of retirement last August to serve the parish.
 
Two church members interrupted the service started to read a statement in
which they insisted that they would not accept communion from a priest who
accepted Robinson's consecration. The Rev. Marthe Dyner, who had been sent
by the diocese to preside at the service, had invited those who had concerns
to meet after the service. She called it "a very sad day" and admitted that
"it doesn't feel to me that we're holding together as a family in Christ."
 
Alternative pastoral care
 
Addressing the issue after services in Peterborough, Robinson said that
Wilson was not removed simply because he opposed the consecration, arguing
that a refusal to submit to the authority of a bishop is "a violation of his
ordination vows."
 
The Rochester parish and another in Ashland, New  Hampshire, are seeking
episcopal oversight from the Diocese of Albany in New  York. The Rev. Hays
Junkin, head of the diocesan standing committee, said that it was not likely
that the bishops would release conservative parishes from their oversight
but might make provision to involve other bishops in pastoral care.
 
Theuner and Robinson have said that they "will be happy to meet with any
congregation wishing to consider alternative episcopal pastoral care. We'll
consider any option available under the Constitution and Canons of the
Episcopal Church," Theuner said. Under church rules, no bishop may exercise
pastoral oversight or intervene in another diocese without the express
permission of the diocesan bishop but the House of Bishops adopted
guidelines in 2002 for providing alternate care.
 
Junkin said that parishes could take Robinson at his word that "he's going
to do everything he can to minister to their parish in ways that are
appropriate and acceptable to them. Gene will find a way to be a pastor even
to the clergy who disagree with him."
  
  
) 2003, The Episcopal Church, USA. Episcopal News Service content may be
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